I’m officially at my breaking point with this team and I have to vent! After a stretch of pretty good basketball they roll over in Boston. Kobe went back to shooting every time he touched it, finishing with 0 assists, but more importantly he punked Dwight Howard into playing injured. D12 was ineffective to say the least and I now believe with all my heart the Lakers must trade him to try to save this season.

I know some of you will say he’s still hurt, and some believe he’s the future.

I think he’s dead weight!

This is not the guy I want being the face of the franchise once Kobe’s gone and here are some reasons why. I believe that if the Lakers don’t make it to the conference or NBA finals that he’s going to leave and we’ll get nothing for him. Listening to his interviews and seeing what happened in Orlando last year lead me to one conclusion…I just don’t trust anything he says! In part because I don’t think he ever says exactly what he wants. I think he says what he thinks people want to hear. I’m not sure if he even wants to be a Laker. Most star players would kill to be in his position. He could potentially be the face of one of the greatest franchises in sports history, and he’s not sure if his pride can take being second fiddle to Kobe.

Are you kidding me?

With his back and shoulder injuries he’s just a serviceable big man anyway, so why not trade him for another big and a shooter? This is tricky because Dwight has to okay the trade, so I came up with two deals that could work.

The first one probably wouldn’t happen, but I’d trade him to the Pacers for Roy Hibbert and George Hill. Hibbert is a throwback big that can score in the post, but also can step out and hit a mid-range jumper. Hill is the speedy backup point guard who can penetrate and create shots for himself and others. I think both of these players would fit better into D’antoni’s system than Howard, but I don’t see him saying "yes" to playing in Indiana.

My next deal would send him back to his hometown in Atlanta for Al Horford and Kyle Korver. This is more of a possibility because he’s from Atlanta obviously, but he and Josh Smith are childhood friends and could make for a formidable frontline. In Horford, the Lakers get a lunchbox guy who rebounds, plays great defense, and can score with his back to the basket or facing up. Korver just gives the Lakers one more shooter for opposing defenses to worry about. Imagine a bench lineup of Steve Blake, Jodie Meeks, Kyle Korver, Antawn Jamison, and probably Earl Clark. This trade gives D’antoni a few more usable pieces for his system and allows Dwight to be the number one option for a team with lower expectations...which leads me to my next point, maybe the lights are just too bright here in L.A.Playing for the Lakers is a lot like playing for the Yankees...if you’re great, the fans will love you forever, and if you’re not, you’ll get run out of town.

Kobe plays the role of Derek Jeter: beloved by the fans because of his ability to come up big in the biggest moments. A champion and a true Laker, Kobe has cemented a place in the hearts of Lakers fans.

Dwight is A-Rod: a hired gun that tries so hard to win our hearts but never feels like a true Laker and is overshadowed by a living legend.

Dwight is a superstar, and in Orlando he was praised and adored by a fan base starving to be competitive. They were happy just making the playoffs and losing in the second round and he was happy joking and laughing and being “Superman.” However, this is L.A. and getting beat in the second round is unacceptable. Anything less than a championship is unacceptable. I thought Mr. Howard understood that when he came here and after seeing the Sportsnet commercial with him and Mitch Kupchak, I knew he was ready.

Wrong!...Wrong!

The biggest problem fans have with Dwight is that he cares more about having fun than winning, and in L.A. that just doesn’t fly. He struggles to deal with the pressure of expectation and this is Kobe’s team. What’s gonna happen when Kobe is no longer there to deflect any of the blame? All I’ve heard from Dwight are excuses and complaints. Maybe he needs to go to a smaller market. That way he has a built in excuse as to why he’s never won a championship. He would be loved by Lakers fan if he stopped whining about his touches and concentrated his efforts on defense, because offense isn’t what he does best.The Lakers organization got something very few teams ever get when looking to sign a superstar, and that is a glimpse. A peek into the future of what Dwight Howard will look like when his athleticism has left him: and that is an incomplete offensive player.

I’ve never seen a guy with so little offensive skill want so desperately to be a number one option. His greatest strengths are his quickness and jumping ability, however since his back injury he hasn’t been able to rely on them anymore. The easy dunks and layups that he would get before the injury have now become contested shots or immediate fouls sending him to the free throw line (where he’s shooting a pathetic 50%). When he hurt his shoulder and Pau started for him, we got a chance to see what a real weapon in the post could do for this offense. If he would play like Tyson Chandler and just concentrate on rebounding and defense the Lakers would not be in danger of missing the playoffs. This season has been a disaster, but Dwight might be the biggest disaster of them all. He just hasn’t found his place here in L.A. and I’m not sure if he ever will. 50 games into the season the Lakers are still trying to figure out how to play with Dwight, but at this point in the season it shouldn’t even be an issue. The Lakers brass needs to realize they made a mistake and make a move before this mistake walks in free agency.